Disney Springs Discussion

[Nick]

Disney charges extortionate rents for their tenants. That's why there's so many empty storefronts - even in the older areas (they're well hidden, but still there).

When Pleasure Island went open-admission the idea was to get tenants. The ridiculous asking price from Disney prevented that and it crumbled. The live entertainment costs became a burden and the clubs when open were seen as a liability.

Then they decided to redo the area as Hyperion Wharf - still "themed" but removing all the live entertainment, clubs, etc.. that were seen as problematic. Again, no willing tenants.

So they value engineered again, shrunk the size of most storefronts, and generally made it an outlet mall. The inclusion of certain brands was essentially promised to other stores to guarantee foot traffic - but the reality is that makes a mall, not a themed area. So, mall it is.

Honestly, the only store so far that seems to have gone above and beyond to have their own unique space is Uniqlo. It has that relatively huge chunk behind TRex.

Almost every storefront has a tenant based on a map compiled by permits over on Magic. The shops are just opening in phases.

 

[epcyclopedia]

I want the Magic Mirror!

UNIQLO | Holition

 

[Brian G.]

Town Center at Disney Springs Now Open « Orlando United

Sorry it took longer...still clearing up boxes..

 

[Nick]

Town Center at Disney Springs Now Open « Orlando United

Sorry it took longer...still clearing up boxes..

The mural in picture 5 there was only half completed when I was there opening day. They got that done quick.

 

[Nick]

First look inside STK:

First look inside new STK Orlando restaurant coming to Disney Springs | The Disney Blog

Looks like any STK. The Atlanta one looks almost identical.

 

[quinnmac000]

This is the 5th floor "concept store" that Uniqlo built in Shanghai to showcase the Magic for Everyone brand, which will be the basis of their Disney Springs store and offerings.

It explains why the store at Disney Springs has a fairly prominent space and square footage. Its essentially Disney and Uniqlo's agreement to allow Uniqlo to use Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney on their apparel.

Are you sure that is exclusive for Shanghai? Because Uniqlo in Seoul South Korea has the exact same setup with a yuge Disney apparel section.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Honestly, the San Francisco Uniqlo store looks a lot like that, except it's multiple floors.

 

[Disneyhead]

One thing about The Town Center section, if you are going during the day, be sure to take sunglasses. The tan stucco/light concrete plus the FL sun is like jabbing knitting needles in your eyes.

 

[WAJAS]

I saw a soon to be DVC Lounge yesterday. The sign went up as I walked by. It's close to D-Luxe but closer to the Lime garage.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Whoa there! It's just a phrase used to (admittedly) generalize the less knowledgeable tourists. No disrespect to you at all. The fact that you're on here means you'll have a much greater understanding of a Orlando vacation going in than many tour groups from say... Brazil, who come specifically to disturb the peace (as one would think).

When I use the phrase, i'm not meaning the person is"dumb", but ill-informed.

I know full well it wasn't aimed at me and I did say it was water off a ducks back to me.

I was trying to point out that new/first time/sensitive visitors to this site could easily be offended by being labeled dumb as they are a tourist, maybe a better choice of words should prevail in the future, just saying.

Any how, no problems my end, on with the show.

 

[Teebin]

Well, I am a real hypocrite. This sleepy hollow New England town turned into the Magic Kingdom w/traffic overnight. Thousands of people and hundreds of cars. I swore my way downtown, through the grocery store, parked horribly for pickup at Chinese restaurant. Everyone was walking and driving like they were relaxed and on vacation. The NERVE!!!

 

[Mad Dog]

Well, I am a real hypocrite. This sleepy hollow New England town turned into the Magic Kingdom w/traffic overnight. Thousands of people and hundreds of cars. I swore my way downtown, through the grocery store, parked horribly for pickup at Chinese restaurant. Everyone was walking and driving like they were relaxed and on vacation. The NERVE!!!

And now they're waiting for Jaws to appear in the water?

 

[Disneyhead]

And now they're waiting for Jaws to appear in the water?

Fourth of July Weekend would be apropo.

 

[Nick]

Went to the Springs again tonight. Not a ton to mention. The lines were way down at D-Luxe and Sprinkles (and the ATM was broken too). STK opened tonight. Looks great, great vibe, live DJ, didn't eat there. Looks like the third floor patio would be a beautiful place to eat though.

Stopped by Trophy Room as that just opened. This store is gonna make A LOT of money. Here's some photo's of the place:

In this case was some MJ memorabilia (including part of the United Center court from '95-'98), but the shoes are the real show here. If you're ever in the store, ask a CM about them. They're custom designed Jordan's by celebs. The red/white shoe was a Justin Timberlake custom and the cost was about $10K. The maroon one was designed by Macklemore, the Purple and Gold a Kobe Bryant design (before he got his own shoe deal) and the Gold off to the left was made for Usher.

Marcus Jordan was roaming around his store. He was incredibly nice and had a long conversation with my sister about basketball.

 

[Blue]

Wow, I wasn't expecting anything like that to open there. Looks really good.

 

[UNIrd]

Visited Disney Springs this week but maybe I missed the part where more than half of the stores are still closed. The parking garage was nice... and the new area seems like it will be a nice place to visit eventually. But as of right now, taking time out of your vacay to check out Town Center is pretty pointless.

 

[SeventyOne]

Hearing horror stories about traffic last weekend, even with the new garages open. There was gridlock literally IN the Strawberry Lot. Friends got off work at midnight, could not pull out of parking spaces, traffic was just stopped in the aisles. Ended up going to Splitsville for an hour, still took 90 minutes to drive what should take 20.

Seems no question should have completed Buena Vista before even moving a shovelful of dirt at Springs.

 

[IzzyB]

Hearing horror stories about traffic last weekend, even with the new garages open. There was gridlock literally IN the Strawberry Lot. Friends got off work at midnight, could not pull out of parking spaces, traffic was just stopped in the aisles. Ended up going to Splitsville for an hour, still took 90 minutes to drive what should take 20.

Seems no question should have completed Buena Vista before even moving a shovelful of dirt at Springs.

I personally would not park in Strawberry. Orange seems to be the easiest to get in and out of. I have had zero issues with Orange. I do want to try lime as it is closer to the shops I like. I do agree construction is a pain, but I think waiting on road infrastructure would have delayed this project years and then we would all be going, "Disney takes forever just to build a simple mall". They really can't win. but I think doing road and DS at the same time was the smart move, get this done more quickly. And if anyone ever went to DTD you know gridlock was an every day thing. So for most people now, it is 100x better. Sure you will have issues here and there, but doesn't every park? I mean I have waited to get in and out of Universal depending on when I come and go and same with Sea World. I normally slowly walk out of Sea World if it is near closing, otherwise I am in that parking lot forever. My brother in law said they waited 30 minutes to get out of Aquatica parking lot at close. I personally don't think this type of story you are saying is out of the norm for any theme park place depending on the time of day.

 

[Mad Dog]

I've always had a tried and true method for leaving crowded areas when they close (ie. Sports events, concerts, theme parks etc.) One word, "Don't"....At closing we sit and people watch until nearly everyone is gone. By the time we hit the parking lot, the gridlock is over. When you leave a massive crowd event or facility, when everyone else is leaving, all you do is sit in traffic. I'd rather sit at the venue & relax.

 

[Nick]

Hearing horror stories about traffic last weekend, even with the new garages open. There was gridlock literally IN the Strawberry Lot. Friends got off work at midnight, could not pull out of parking spaces, traffic was just stopped in the aisles. Ended up going to Splitsville for an hour, still took 90 minutes to drive what should take 20.

Seems no question should have completed Buena Vista before even moving a shovelful of dirt at Springs.

People getting stuck in traffic in garages/parking lots at the end of the night (think of it like a concert) is nothing new. Maybe they should've built a third garage over by Cirque, but i've been stuck in Uni's garages on busy days many times. Fall Out Boy comes to mind as a recent end-of-night hell.